In 2006 Alan Rankins established Goal Group, which is a rapidly growing company that provides support to Defence projects. Our people who staff these projects are mainly veterans.
Alan Rankins, founder of Goal Group, served 21 years in the RAN and has since dedicated his time and energy to advancing Australian Defence Industry and ensuring that fellow veterans, of all services, are provided with every opportunity as they transition from service life.
We place a high priority on hiring Veterans because we know that the knowledge and experience of ex-serving members, can be of benefit to the many and varied Defence projects within the Civilian domain, because what we do, matters to those in uniform. Many of our employees are Veterans.
Goal Group is a member of organisations such as the Australian Industry Defence Network (AIDN), SoldierOn, and RSL Australia. We are a supporter of Veteran’s Employment, and are also a business partner of APOD (Australian Partners of Defence https://apod.com.au) which provides discounts to Veteran card holders and their partners, parents, siblings and children.
Any career change is a major life event, but moving from the confines of the Defence industry structure to a civilian organisation, adds a whole other layer. We understand this and are able to support veteran’s coming into our group as we have many people who are willing to act as a mentor.
One of our employees has shared his recent experience:
My name is Tony Birch and after 38 years of military service spread equally between Navy and Air Force, I was institutionalised and understandably a little anxious about what my future employment might look like.
After leaving the Air Force in 2021, I knew that I had a little soul searching to do, to know what I ‘wanted to do when I grew up’. I completed my personality profiles and met with mentors and transition coaches to figure out what was important to me, and aside from my geographical requirements and professional role/s, I discovered that it was vital that I find an organisation whose core values reflected my own. It needed to be a company that promoted open and respectful communication, it needed to have a management group that was supportive, personable, and fun and it needed to promote personal and professional growth and innovation.
I joined Goal Group in mid-2021 and feel incredibly fortunate to have found a company where the culture of trust and collaboration is so strong. Putting people first can roll off the tongue quite easily but it is much harder to establish a culture that “walks the talk”.
Twelve months down the track I often wonder why I was so worried about moving out of Defence but I also realise that the transition was made easy because Goal Group truly care about their employees and work hard to ensure that everyone is supported in their workplace.
Once you have made the decision to seek a new career, you also need to decide how you want to be engaged as a civilian worker. We have put together a booklet that looks at the pros and cons of the different engagement types – employee, contractor or sole trader. You can access this here.
Our recommendation is that you join an organisation as an employee, at least to begin with. That way you have a regular income and all other payments are taken care of such as tax, superannuation, insurances etc. Going it on your own when you don’t have a sound understanding of the financial accounting involved, can be disastrous.
If you are interested in what opportunities are available with Goal Group, please check our Careers page, or send us a copy of your CV. We only advertise a fraction of the roles that are open and with your CV on file, we can quickly search our database for anything that suits your qualifications and experience.
